Brumbies join New Zealand heavyweights in Super Rugby semis

Yahoo

11 hours ago

A gutsy ACT Brumbies Saturday ensured Australia's presence in the Super Rugby semi-finals with a 35-28 takedown of the in-form Wellington Hurricanes, joining New Zealand heavyweights Auckland Blues, Waikato Chiefs and Canterbury Crusaders.
The 'Canes arrived in frigid Canberra unbeaten in six games, but after a fast start they were bossed by the Brumbies' front-rowers who bagged four of their five tries.
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Their reward is a semi-final next week in Hamilton against the Chiefs, who suffered a last-gasp 20-19 defeat to the defending champion Blues.
Despite losing, the Chiefs still advanced to the semis, and kept home advantage, as the highest-seeded loser under a revamped play-off system.
The Blues travel to Christchurch to face the Crusaders, who opened the elimination round with a 32-12 win over the Queensland Reds on Friday.
"It felt good to earn ourselves another week," said Brumbies skipper Allan Alaalatoa, who crossed for a try.
"We knew it was probably going to take everything we had. I thought it was a much-improved effort from last time we played them."
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A fifth-minute try from fullback Ruben Love after a free-flowing move set the 'Canes on their way, but the Brumbies quickly struck back when hooker Billy Pollard finished off a patient trademark rolling maul.
They exchanged converted tries again before Pollard put the home side in front for the first time on the cusp of half-time, again crashing over after a rolling maul for a 21-14 advantage.
The hosts extended their lead six minutes after the break when Tom Wright combined with Wallabies teammate Rob Valetini to slice open the defence.
A determined Hurricanes kept bouncing back, but a further converted Brumbies try from veteran prop James Slipper ultimately sealed the win.
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- Grind -
In Hamilton, Josh Beehre scored a try after the final hooter to keep the Blues' title defence alive.
Fly-half Beauden Barrett added the extras in a dramatic finish to a game the Chiefs dominated before being over-run by their fast-finishing opponents, who only snuck into the play-offs as the sixth and lowest qualifiers.
Both Blues tries came in the final 15 minutes after trailing 19-6.
Hooker Kurt Eklund burrowed over to get the Blues back in the contest before another substitute forward, lock Beehre, stretched out in the 82nd minute.
"There's been a whole lot of ups and downs in our season so we've got to enjoy that kind of moment," said Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu, whose side lost five of their first six games this season.
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"The Chiefs have been number one all season, they've pretty much set the tone.
"We didn't want to draw too much on emotion tonight, we knew emotion would only get us so far. I'm glad we were able to grind it out in the last 10 minutes."
Chiefs captain Tupou Vaa'i was unhappy his side couldn't knock out a Blues team who beat them in last year's grand final.
"Definitely disappointed, I thought we had that game in the bag," Vaa'i said.
"I guess footy's a strange game sometimes. You can start on a high and then it can humble you real quick."
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